# What is Computer Crime?

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## Computer Crime Introduction

Computer crime can be broadly defined as any criminal activity involving computers. This would include the simple theft of a computer. Since such activities raise few, if any, unique legal issues, for purposes of this course the term "computer crime" will focus on criminal activity involving the computer data--particularly its manipulation, modification, destruction, and so forth. Computer crimes can be analyzed under three main headings: computer systems as the object, as an instrumentality, or as incidental to the crime.

## Computers as Objects of Crime

When a computer is the object of the crime it is the target. The perpetrator attacks the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of information or systems. Attacks on confidentiality can involve accessing sensitive information such as medical records, credit card numbers, or trade secrets. Attacks on integrity may involve the modification of information, or vandalism such as Web site defacement. Attacks on availability may result in denial of service, destruction of data, or degraded operations of the computer or network.

## Computers as Instruments of Crime

Using a computer as an instrumentality of the crime means to use it as a communications tool to facilitate commission of the crime. Computers are instrumentalities of the crime when they are used criminally to attack another computer, to acquire information stored on another computer, to acquire access to another computer without authorization or in excess of authorized access, to damage another computer system via a datastream, to commit fraud, to conduct gambling, to participate in conspiratorial planning, to transfer child pornography, or to harass, to list only some examples.

## Computers as Incidental to Crime

Computers are incidental to a crime when they are used as a storage device in support of criminal activity. Computers are often used to store accounting records, letters, accomplices' names or contact information, and pirated software, to list some examples.